Apple Pay Is Now Processing Charitable Donations Just in Time for the Holidays

The holiday season is one of the most joyful and generous times of year, when people are often quick to open up their homes, their hearts, and especially their pocketbooks, in an effort to help those less fortunate. Apple, which actually happens to be one of the most generous, publicly traded companies on the planet, knows this well — which is perhaps why the company recently announced that it will begin processing charitable donations to U.S.-based not-for-profits via its proprietary mobile payment platform, Apple Pay.

For those interested in helping their fellow man in need at this joyous time of year, you can either click the Apple Pay icon integrated into the web-based checkout portal, or use Touch ID via your compatible iPhone or iPad, to quickly make charitable donations to a myriad of participating not-for-profits — the list of which continues to grow by the week, as more purpose-driven organizations begin integrating Apple Pay into their web-based or mobile app checkouts.

Charities currently accepting donations via Apple Pay:

• American Red Cross
• American Heart Association
• charity: water
• Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
• COPD Foundation
• Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)
• Doctors Without Borders
• Feeding America
• GlobalGiving
• International Rescue Committee
• Red, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• The Nature Conservancy
• Save the Children
• The Water Project
• UNICEF
• United Way
• WNET
• World Vision
• WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

Additionally, several other organizations have plans, or are already in the process of integrating Apply Pay functionality, including the American Cancer Society, CARE, DonorsChoose.org, and PBS.

What’s so significant about Apple Pay now processing charitable donations is that, prior to this holiday season, Apple had a strict policy that forbade 3rd party apps from collecting funds for charities — alternatively insisting that users make donations to their favorite not-for-profits via the web or SMS. However, with the advent of charitable giving via Apple pay, not only will established not-for-profits be able to integrate the Apple Pay button directly into their checkouts, but, according to statistics collected and analyzed by Shopify, Apple Pay has already contributed to a 200% uptick in the revenues generated by online shoppers — almost certainly due to the fact that Apple Pay significantly decreases customer checkout times since all of their payment and shipping information is already stored on Apple’s encrypted servers. And those statistics could ultimately play out to the benefit of charities hoping to make a difference in the lives of those they serve.

According to TechCrunch, Apple is reportedly working with a firm by the name of Benevity — which has spearheaded a platform designed to enable charitable giving programs at the corporate level — to help it vet the not-for-profits applying to have Apple Pay integrated into their mobile or web-based checkouts.

While Apple’s move to support quick and seamless charitable giving via Apple Pay is a welcomed one, the company is likely to create a challenge for its closest mobile payment rivals — such as PayPal, for example — whose platform is already integrated within the checkouts of over 500,000 charities around the globe.